Yesterday I did something completely unplanned and non-work-related: I got up at the crack of dawn and took the thalys train to Brussels to explore a brocante at place du jeu de balle. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while, and when leslie told me she was going to stop by there on her way back to Amsterdam from a weekend away, I decided to meet her there and finally check it out. It was great, we loved the market and found heaps of great things. I even bartered in French which was lots of fun, and all the stall owners that we dealt with were really friendly and kind (two of the stall owners let us gather our findings at their stalls throughout the day until we fetched the car). After that we had some lunch and strolled around town. It was really nice to get out of ‘the office’ for a while…

I was only there for a few hours, but would you like to know my first impressions of Brussels?

1. I thought Paris and Amsterdam were full of cobblestones but Brussels really is the cobbliest city I’ve ever been in.

2. If you love street art, you’ll love this city! It’s full of fabulous street art and graffiti.

3. It feels like a mix of Paris and Amsterdam, which is really cool.

4. Everybody speaks French, and that’s awesome.

5. If you love brocante treasures and antiques, there is plenty of the good stuff in Brussels.

Spring was only just emerging in the haute fagnes forest in belgium where french boy and i spent our very restful, computer-free weekend. We walked, talked, explored, sat in the forest, listened to the birds, caught some afternoon sun on the terrace (I’ve got colours), and slept. It was just what we needed – some time away from the city hum and crazy work commitments. We stumbled upon a castle, hidden deep inside the forest, and as we climbed the ancient stone stairs I imagined myself as a maiden, standing on the landing, hoping with all her heart to see her warrior lover come over the hill. I asked French Boy if he would come back for me and he said “without a doubt”. I said, “would you be missing a limb?” and he asked “would you still love me if I was?” and I said “without a doubt”.

A walk in a forest in spring is such wonderful medicine for the heart and soul…

It was a misty drive back through the French countryside… The fog was thick and heavy, revealing some rather eerie tree creatures along the way. I was able to capture a few with my camera from behind the safety of the car window – they were so spooky, I did not dare open my window to get a closer look, just in case one of them stretched their ghostly branches toward me and snapped me out of my warm comfy seat.. to get a really good feel for this ghoulish ride, click here to open a new window for the soundtrack to this post, then come back here to scroll through the images below… happy halloween my dear readers…